Cutting apparatus for mowers, reapers, &amp;c.



N0. 7|0,8l6. Patented Oct. 7, I902.

A. STEVENS. CUTTING APPARATUS FOR MOWERS, BEAPEBS, 8w.

(Application filed Oct. 17, 1901.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

,ANSEL STEVENS, or WESTBROOK, MAINE.

CUTTlNG APPARATUS FOR MOVVERS, REAPERS, 86C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,816, dated October '7, 1902 Application filed October 17,1901. Serial No. 78,915. No model.)

To (all w/wm, Lt; rim/y concern.-

Be it known that I, ANSEL STEVENS, a citizen of the United Stat-es, residing at Westbrook, conntyof On mberland, State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutting Apparatus for Mowers, Reapers, and the Like; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a finger-bar for mowers, reaper-s, and the like having a maximum of strength and rigidity and a minimum of weight and metal, so as to allow of the employment of bars of unusual length without the tendency to hog and bend, which has heretofore been a serious difficulty.

Minor objects of the invention are to provide i in proved arrangements for hold i n g down the cutter-bar and for securing the ledgerplates to the guard-fingers.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 shows in plan a complete bar constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the sections of the bar. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the bar on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the inner shoe. Fig. 5 is a section of this shoe on the line 5 5, Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is a perspective of one of the ledgerplates.

As clearly indicated in Fig.1,thefinger-bar is made up of a number of sections a, each section being provided at its ends with means for interlocking it with the adjacent sections and the Whole being clamped together end for end by means of a tie-rod b. Any suit able means may be employed for interlocking the sections; but I prefer to form one end of each section with a spline or feather c and the opposite end with a corresponding groove Z to receive the feather of the adjacent section, and in order to stifien the bar and pre-' vent torsional strains from disarranging the sections I also prefer to form a rearwardlyextending flange or wing e ateach end of each section and to continue the interlocking grooves and splines out along the faces of the flanges, as best shown in Fig. 2.

The inner shoe (Z is of the ordinary con struction except that it is provided along its outer or grassward edge with means to interlock it with the first bar-section. Obviously this means may be a spline or feather c, or in case the inner end of the first section should have a spline instead of a groove then the shoe would have a groove. The inner shoe is also provided with means for connecting thereto the tie-rod b, which unites the barsections together and binds them all to the shoe. This means, as here shown, is a trans verse perforation but obviously it might be any sort of a channel or groove. The outer shoe f is also perforated for the passage of the tie-rod, and its inner edge is likewise advisedly provided with means to interlock with the outermost section of the bar. The tierod 1) is not permanently connected to either shoe, but is entirely independent of and removable from both shoes and passes freely through perforations h in. the bar-sections, which perforations when the sections are in place are in line with the perforation '11 in the .inner shoe and the corresponding perforation in the outer shoe. At its opposite ends the tie-rod is threaded, and nuts 72 are screwed up against-the outer-and inner sides, respectively, of the shoesfand (Z.

I prefer to make each bar-section a separate casting and to form the guard-fingers integrally therewith. The length of the sections is to a certain extent immaterial; but I prefer to form a plurality of fingers on each, usually making the sections from nine inches to a foot long and forming three or four fingers on each.

I do not desire or intend to limit myself to any particular shape or construction of the bEtP-SGCEIOUS in cross-section; hutI preferably make them flat on top and of sufficient width to receive the cutter-barand the caps for holding the knives down to their work, so that the complete bar will approximate as closely as possible the general form and appearance of the ordinary rolled'bar. In the construction here shown there are five of these sections; but obviously there may be any number, and incidentally one advantageous feature of the invention is that it provides for increasing or diminishing the width of cut in any given ma-. chiueby lengthening or shorteningthe bar.

As before stated, I prefer tomake thebarsections asseparate castings, each having a body portion provided at its ends with rearwardly-extending wings or flanges and having also projecting from its forward edge the integrally-formed guard-fingers, already referred to. In casting these fingers with the sections I also prefer to form the raceway m for the cutter-bar integral with the sections, so that each section will comprise a portion of the finger-bar and all that belongs with it to complete that part of the cutting apparatus. This raceway therefore consists of the continuous bar 19, extending from end to end of each section along the front edge of its body portion, said bar forming the bottom of the raceway and having the upstanding flange o, forming its front side, said flange also being continuous and uniting the shanks of the fingers together. Openings .5 are preferably formed in the bottom of the raceway m between the guard-fingers, the object being to permit the escape of the dirt, &c.', and to allow the cutter-bar to clear itself.

Referring now particularly to Figs. at and 5, r denotes a small plate which is held down onto the shoe d by means of a stout screw 3', passing freely through the plate and tapped into the shoe. At its rear edge, behind the screw, the plate has a depending footpiece 3, resting on the upper surface of the shoe, and the front edge of the plate has a lip 4, that overhangs and bears down on the rear edge of the cutters 9. Just back of the lip 4 the plate has one or more set-screws 5,which pass through screw-threaded openings in the plate and have their lower ends resting on, but not takinginto,theshoe. Thisarrangementforms a convenient and efficient means for holding the cutter bar down in its raceway. The plate is adjusted by turning the screw 3, and the object of the set-screws is to limit the downward movement of the plate and to set the lip at at just the right elevation to keep the cuttor-bar from riding up.

Figs. 3 and 6 show most clearly the improved arrangement for fastening the ledgerplates in position, the particular object of which is to permit of the employment of lighter rivets by forming on the plate around the rivet-hole a bur or ring 25, that is struck up from the metal at the time of forming the plate. This ring fits into a countersink that is formed around the rivet-hole in the guardfinger and very materially aids in holding the plate against lateral displacement. A lighter rivet orscrew may consequently be employed.

Referring again to the sectional construction of the finger-bar, I do not desire to be understood as laying any claim to interlocking fingers as such, and I am also aware that many years ago it was proposed to make a finger-barby stringing such fingers on a round tube that was permanently secured to the inner shoe. Such construction, however, was wholly impracticable and I believe was never adopted or used. The tube in that case was really the finger-bar. The fingers were se cured on the tube by a rod running through it, and the completed device derived its strength and rigidity entirely from the tube itself and the iuclosed rod. In my invention, however, the tie-rod is removable and is comparatively light, and the only material function it performs is to bind the sections together and to the inner shoe, and the strength and rigidity of the structure come from the construction and interlocking of the sections together and to the inner shoe.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is- 1. A finger-bar for mowers, reapers, and the like, the same consisting wholly of a plurality of separate finger-carrying sections, and a tierod for securing the individual sections to one another, and the series of sections as a unit to the inner shoe, the sections interlocking one with another, and the tie-rod being detachably connected to the shoe.

2. A finger-bar section for mowers, reapers, and the like, the same consisting of a body portion provided at its ends with rearwardlyextending flanges, said body portion and flanges having means for interlocking with other similar sections.

3. A finger-bar section for mowers, reapers, and the like, the same provided at one end with means for interlocking it with a similar section, and at the other end with means for interlocking it with the shoe, combined with a shoe having cooperating means for interlocking with the section, and a detachable tierod for clamping the shoe and section together.

4. A finger-bar for mowers, reapers, and the like, the same consisting of an inner shoe, an outershoe, and intermediate interlocking barsections, the inner shoe having interlocking means to cooperate with those on the adjacent bar-section, and the whole being tied together by a detachable, longitudinal tie-rod passing through both shoes and the intermediate barsections.

v 5. In a cutting apparatus for mowers, reapers, and the like, the combination with the inner shoe, and the cutter-bar, of an adjustable plate having a heel projection at its rear end resting upon the shoe, a lip on its front end overlying the bar, a screw intermediate of its ends, by means of which it is fastened to the shoe, and a set screw or screws between the securing-screw and the rear edge of the cutter-bar.

6. A finger-bar for mowers, reapers, and the like, the same composed of sections interlocking with one another, combined with an inner shoe interlocking with the adjacent section, and means for securing the sections together and fastening the innermost section to the shoe.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANSEL STEVENS. 

